father in the beginning of the film was difficult. Carl Reiner also appeared on the DVD commentary, and praised Lucas' job as director, as well as the script to the film. Lucas Reiner discussed the casting of the film by producer Susie Landau, and noted that once actor David Cassidy of The Partridge Family was successfully signed to the project, other stars from the 1970s signed on as well. Several musicians also played bit roles in the film. Members of the new wave rock band Devo appeared as the "Ministry of Knowledge," Jeff McDonald and Steven Shane McDonald, members of the band Redd Kross played Chris Johnson and Tommy Sears. Martin von Haselberg and Brian Routh of The Kipper Kids portrayed the CIA agents, Tommy Chong appeared in a scene in a head shop, and Moon Zappa had a cameo as "an archetypal zodiac aficionado." Reiner complimented Sofia Coppola on her costuming work for the film, noting that she was only seventeen years-old during initial production. Coppola had to research for the 1970s as she was very young through the period, and also developed costumes for two other periods - the future in the year 2176, and the future after the time-travelers returned home and changed the culture. The production budget for the film was tight, and crew members brought in 1970s period items of their own to supplement props in the film. Production designer Danny Talpers designed the prop for the time machine out of two hot tubs - which was a reference to their popularity during the period. Instead of the more expensive cutaway technique, Reiner simply moved the camera back and forth during dialogue to save money. Reception The Spirit of '76 received mixed reviews. The Denver Post described it as both "idiotic" and "aggressively bright", and a review in the Chicago Sun-Times did not think it was very funny. The Sacramento Bee called it a "cool comedy of the '70s," noting that it was a bit high-paced, but also "extremely likable." An Entertainment Weekly review wrote that: "References to est and disco, along with someone's mint collection of Kiss posters and other memorabilia, get tossed out willy-nilly; the movie's only unifying force is that smirky irony," and gave the film a rating of "C−". Allmovie wrote positively of the film, calling it a: "lively sci-fi comedy" that makes "great fun of the '70s." The film received